Ignition apparatus.



P. H. HAWKER &`I. J. REUTER.

IGNITION APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED neo. z. 1912.

1,109,064. Patented Sept. 1,1914.

z SHEETS-SHEET' 1. Y

l- /s messes 'Fig' i rf7wer1ZZr3- -I E eww @aN/wi P. H. HAWKER e I. J. REUTER. IGNITION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 2, 1912.

f1, 1 09,064. Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL H. HAWKER AND IRVING J. EUTER, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS TO REMY ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA.

IGNITION APPARATS'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

' Application iled December 2, 1912. Serial No. 734,502.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that we, PAUL I-I. HAWKER and IRVING J. REUTER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Anderson, county of Madison, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Ignition Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invent-ion is to produce an ignition system :toil internal combustion engines, capable of giving satisfactory results throughout a wide range of speeds of operation;

It is particularly ladapted to utilize energy from a battery or other source vof current whose electromotive force does not materi ally increase with increasing speed of peration of the engine.

The invention is adapted to either jumpspark or make and break ignition.

The feature of the inventionconsists in the employment of a regulating resistance `nected to wires 11 and 15, respectively.

and electrically operated means ,for automatically introducing it into -the circuit l ,I vas heretofore the battery 1, wire 2, switch 80 13, wire i, controller contacts 5 and 6, armafture liever 7, and resistance 50, the relation when desirable for the purpose of limiting the ilow of current.

Referring to the drawings: j

Figure 1 represents the invention employed for jump-spark ignition, and with a separate coil for actuating the controller. Fig. 2. shows the invention used for producing make and break ignition, and with' the ignition coil also serving as the controller actuating coil. Fig. 3 shows another form ot the invention for make and break ignition having the regulating resistance wound on the core of the cont-roller actuating magnet, and with an ignition winding separate from the winding on said controller actuating magnet. l

Referring to Fig. 1, 1 is a battery which is connected by Wire 2, to one terminal of the switch 3, the remaining terminal of said lswitch being connected to the wire 4:. .'l is the fixed contact of the controller.v It is connected to wire 4. There is movable contact 6, carried by a spring actuated "armature 7. Said contacts 5 and 6 and armature T( constitute the controller. rIhe contacts 5 and 6 are normally closed, that is, the spring tends to hold them in engagement. There iS an electromagnethaving a winding 8,

on a core 80, adapted' toaetuate s aidarma-v ture 7, and separate thlieueontacts rand '6p One terminal'of the' winding 8 is connected to the armature 7 and the other terminal of said winding 8 is joined by wire 9 to one end ot' the ignition winding 10. By the term ignition winding is meant a winding in the battery circuit, which assists in eregr causes the production ot the spark when thel current through said winding is interrupted. The ignition winding l0 here forms the primary winding ot an induction coil whose secondary winding GO is connected to a spark is a condenser ('Qin parallel with thetimer contacts 12 and 13, having its terminals con- Referring now to Fig. 2, there is shown arts being the same as shown rIlle winding 8^ is the windbetween said in Fig. 1.

nected t0 the armature 7 and the other ter- 9b' minal of said winding is joined by wire 11 tio the fixed contact 1Q^ of the timer whose movable contact l3`^ is attached t0 a' lever 14A. The lever 14A is connected by the wire 15 tothe remaining terminal of the bat- 55i4 Fig. 3 shows the same arrangement as Fig. 2 eiicept that there is an ignition windnl@ 10P' Separate from the controller actu ating wiriding, connected to controller actu'- lo() ating windin and timer contacty 12Av byl wires 9 and ll respectively, and except that tlie regulating resistance 50A is wound on the cere v80.015 the controller actuating magnet instead` of being located away from said fdl:

The switch 3,` sh0wn in all of the igures, yisl closed4L or opened manually according to' The particular form of the of the electron'iagnetfor actuating the 85 controller, but it also serves as the ignition The ot'ier'ati'onl of tlie syst-em is as-follows:

'whether it is desired .to use the ignition or ii`0 not, and will be assumed to be closed in the following explanation: Referring now to Fig. 1, the spring 71 causes the engagement of the contacts 12 and 13, except when prevented from doing so by the action of the cam 70. This cam 70 is caused to rotate by any suitable means so as to cause repeated separation Vand engagement of the contacts 12 and 13, the separations occurring at the instants that the sparks are desired. Immediately after the engagement of the contacts 12 and 13j, current flows through the follpwing circuit: From battery 1, through wire 2, switch 3, wire 4, contacts and 6, armature 7, winding 8, wire 9, 'ignition winding 10, wire 11, contacts 12 and 13, lever 14 and wire 15 to the battery 1. The flow of current in the winding 8 magnetizes the core 8O land tends to pull the armature 7 downward against the action of its spring, thereby separating the contacts 5 and 6. rIhe separation of the contacts 5 and 6 does not occur immediately upon the closing of the circuit by the timer, but is delayed an appreciable time thereafter. The cause of the delay in the action of the controller is asfollows: The contacts 5 and 6 will not be separated by the action of the electromagnet, until the current in the winding 8 reaches a certain value. This value of current is herein designated the operating value. Said operating value, as will be apparent, is dependent on the general proportions and adjustment of the spring, lever and electromagnet.4 On account of the inductance of the circuit, contained principally or entirely in the windings 8 and 10, ythe operating value of the current is not reached until a certain time after the closing of the circuit by the timer. V-Furthermore, the controller may not act the in- Stant that the current in the winding 8 attains the operating value. Such a delay may result from the particular mechanical construction adopted, eddy currents in the magnet core, etc. When the contacts of the controller are separated, the current, in passing from the wire 4 to the winding 8 is obliged to pass through the resistance 50. The function of the controller is `to introduce the resistance i into the circuit after the timer has been closed a suitable time. At high speeds the controller contacts may fail to open at all, as will be explained hereinafter. The introduction of the resistance 50 into the circuit may cause thecurrent flowing in the circuit to decrease, or it may merely limit its increase. The current, after the introduction of the resistance, tends to assume the value determined by dividing the e.m.f. of 4the battery by'the resistance of the circuit, including regulating resistance 50. If thecurrent be greater than this when the resistance50 is introduced a decrease will oc. cur. If lsuch decrease of current occurs, however, it should not be sudden enough to cause the induction coil to deliver a spark to the spark plug 61. The construction and adjustment of the controller and the magnet operating it is preferably such that the current flowing after the introduction of the resistance into the circuit is sufficient to hold the armature 7 against the action of its spring, causing the contacts 5 and 6 to remain separated until after the circuit is interrupted by the timer. When the contacts 12 and 13 of the timer' separate the current is interrupted suddenly and produces in the secondary winding a high tension impulse which causes a spark to occur in the spark plug 61. The action of the timer in thus producing a. spark by interrupting the circuit is like the action in ignition systems in general use, and is well understood. -lVhen the engine is being operated at high speed the timer closes the circuitfor such a short time that the controller does not introduce the resistance 50 into the circuit. When running slowly, however, the timer closes the circuit for a sufficient time to allow the controller to introduce the regulating resistance into the circuit, but whether this occurs or not, the spark is produced by the action of the timer and not by the controller. The manner in which this introduction of resistance produces a desirable regulation or control of the current will be apparent froml the following explanation. When the system is operated at high speed, the interval between the closing and the opening of the timer contacts, hereinafter called time of contact, is short and the inductance of the circuit sufficiently limits the value which the current attains. It is then desirable to keep the resistance of the circuit relatively low, as resistance in the battery circuit further hinders the use of current and prevents the production of satisfactory sparks. At low speed operation, however, the time of contact is so great that the inductance alone is not a suiiicient limit to the current rise and it is necessary to introduce additional resistance into the circuit to prevent the current from becoming excessive. Such excessive current if permitted would necessarily exhaust the battery andpossibly injure the ignition apparatus. The action of the controller in .introducing resistance into thev circuit at low speed operation, and failing lto do so at high speed is thus seento give the lregulation desired.

Referring now to Fig. 2, when the timer contacts areengaged, current flows from the battery 1, throughwire 2, switch 3, wire 4, controller contacts' 5 and 6, armature lever 7 winding 8A, wire 11, contacts 12A and 13A, lever 14A and wire 15 to the battery 1. If the timer contacts remain closed a sufficiently long time the action of the core 80 on the armature lever 7 causes the resistance 50 to be introduced into the circuit as in the 1", ioegoca previously described arrangement. Whether this occur or not, when the contacts 12A and 13A separate, a spark occurs between them as in the well known make and break i i'tion. The winding 8A inaddition to actuating the controller serves as the ignition winding. In virtue of its inductance vit has the well known effect of intensifying the spark occurring when the contacts l2A and 13A separate.

Referring vto Fig. 3, the operation is similar to Fig. 2. When the timer contacts engage, current flows from battery 1, through wire 2, switch 3, wire 4', contacts 5 and 6, armature 7 winding 8, wire v9, ignition winding 10B, wire 11, timer contacts 12A and 13A, lever 14A, and wire l5 to the battery. `When the controller contacts are sepl arated the Current is obliged to traverse the resistance'winding 50A, and this winding as sists in magnetizing the core v8O. The inductance of the winding 10]B assists 1n producing the spark in the. well known Vmanner. This arrangement of the regulating resistance is particularly suited to cases where it is desirable to so adjust the controller that the operating current is in excess of the current which tends to flow when the resistance is in the circuit. The insertion of the additional turns A into the circuit assists in holding the armature 7 when the current. is reduced by the introduction of said turns.

Our invention is adapted to usef with a timer in which the time of contact changes lwith change of speed. Such -timers are readily constructed in durable form and permit of very accurate timing of' the in- Since w'e employ the incircuit by this timer to produce the spark the sparks are accurately timed. Thus irregular action or lag in the controller cannot aiect the timing of the sparks, eliminating an'objectionable feature present when an electrically operated. constant of break. terrupt-ion of the troller or relay iniuences the instant of A sparki g. Should the controller 28 become deranged and the contacts remain separated, the system would still give good sparks at lo'w speed. Should the contacts on 'the otherI hand, remain Ipermanently in engagement, an excessive current would flow during lo-w speed operation. 'Although this would soon exhaust the would not render` the system immediately inoperative. Thus a derangement A of the controller will not entirely disable the system immediately. AThis is of especial advantage on automobiles as in case of trouble of this character, the automobile Amay still battery, yet it 'be driven to a suitable place for repairing the system. A further advantage of the .invention is the ability of the controller to adapt itself toI various battery conditions. Should the battery be weak, giving a curnormally closed contacts in lsaid regulating resistance.

rent is sufiiciently weak without Isaid resistance being inthe circuit; If thebattery be exceptionally strong, causing the current to reach the operating value usual, theresistance will the circuitearlier. In illustrating different forms of the invention,y there have-been shown ytwo varieties of ignition and two" locations of the regulating resistance. The ignition winding'has been shown both coni'- inedwith the controller actuating magnet winding andseparate thereroni. areother combinations of these, variations than those illustrated which' will be evident to one skilled in the art. Such variations do not depart from the spiritof the invention and we therefore'do not limit ourselves to the specific combinations shown here, nor to the particular methods of arranging4 the circuits. y We claim as our invention:

1. An igniting apparatus including in combination an ignition winding, lating resistance in series with saidfwinding, and electrically controlled Contact points in parallel with said regulating resistance.

2. An ignition apparatus' including .in combination an ignition winding, a yregulating resistance, a timer, and a source of current, the aforesaid parts being connected in series, and electrically actuated controller contacts in parallel with said regulating resistance. d 1 d d 3. An ignition apparatus' including in more quickly than combination a source of current, an ignition .wlnding a regulating resistance in series with said ignition winding, normally closed contact points in parallel with said regulating resistance, electrical means for opening said contact points, a source ofl current .adapted to supply current to said ignition winding and to said means for opening ksaid contact points, and a timer adapted to control the supply of current to said winding and to said means for opening saidcontact i points.

4. An ignition apparatus including in There .#30

a regu- I be intro-duced into combination an ignition winding, a regulat-A in g resistance in series with said ignition Winding a controller responsive to the current 1n said ignition winding-and having parallel with x 5. In' ignition apparatus, the combination of an ignition winding, a regulating resistance adapted to be introduced into the circuit of said ignition winding, andelectromagnetic means for ance intoy the circuit ing.

of said ignition wind- 6., In ignition apparatus, the combination introducing said resistwith a circuit including an ignition winding, a source of electric energy, and a timer adapted to produce ignition by interrupting the circuit, of means responsive to the current of said circuit and adapted to introduce resistance int-o said circuit When the current exceeds a predetermined value,

7 In ignition apparatus, the combination With a circuit including an ignition Winding,

a source of electric energy and a timer adapted to produce ignition by interrupting.

the circuit, of an electromagnetic means for varying the resistance of said circuit.

9. In ignition apparatus, the combination With a circuit including an ignition winding,

a source of electric energy and a timer adapted to produce ignition by interrupting the circuit, l of an electromagnetic means adapted to limit the flow of current when said timer is operated at relatively low speeds.

, PAUL I-Il HAWKER.

IRVING J. REUTER.

Witnesses: i FRANKLIN P. MoDERMo/rr, J r.,- JOHN B. DYER. 

